The use of faced foam-filled insulating elements for walls and ceilings in the construction industry is well known. The facades of buildings or the outside wall elements in the construction of single family prefabricated houses are typical examples of this application. To increase fire safety non-flammable granular additives are incorporated in the foam. Generally, such foams are referred to as light concrete components. Polyurethane, particularly polyisocyanurate, is preferred as the foamable composition.
A disadvantage of the faced foam-filled insulating elements for walls and ceilings known hitherto is that a combination of characteristics is often imperfectly matched to the application. It is desirable to independently adjust the gross density of the foam, the proportion of inflammable material in the concrete, the heat capacity of the element, the heat transfer coefficient of the element, sound dissipation of the element and thickness of the element. Unfortunately, the interrelationships between the above characteristics have precluded optimal design. For example, it has been undesirable but necessary to increase the thickness of the element in order to achieve a high sound and particularly heat insulation.